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Originally Posted by Dreamsong  Your description is pleasant to read and suits the tranquil tone of a gentle forest people.
However, I found the mention of recessive genes rather jarring and out of setting, unless the beings in your world truly understand genetics you probably should be using such modern terms to describe them. I would have thought that merely acknowledging that there is some Aslain blood in the Glaiden would be enough.
A few questions about this race.
Do they worship? And if so what and how?
Do they have a warrior tradition or do they frown on violence?
Are they apolitical or is there some kind of ruling body?
Finally if you'd like some more ideas I'd recommend looking at the Lirin from Elizabeth Haydon's Symphony of the Ages series, (assuming you haven't already read it).
Good luck with this. |
Indeed. I did make the mistake of putting what I know into the description, which I'll have to change.
Now, I've worked a bit more on the culture of this group, which changes up some of the imagery, but I'll share it with you now, and some of it will answer your questions.
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Long ages past, when the Glaiden first came to live within the sheltering haven of the Rhon, they encountered a rare and, at the time, dying race of wolves. Previously undiscovered, they remained unnamed as a group until the Glaiden began their early interactions and with their understanding of the nature of these newly discovered energies, the name of Airynfval Fierae, translated to Spectral Wolves, though literally "dark spirit wolves".
The wolves, many ages past, had been bound to a race of beings that died out long before the fierae themselves. The relationship had been symbiotic and without the return of energy from their once living hosts, the fierae began to slowly die; their lives long, but no ability to reproduce left to them the generation that had last been born before the deaths of their hosts remained with only the vaguest of memories to guide the Glaiden, who wished to help, and volunteered to be their new hosts.
There were fewer fierae than Glaiden, and as both were extremely long lived very few of those who came to what would become the Rhon were bonded with the wolves, a new cub born only as often as a new Glaiden was born.
The wolves themselves bond at their discretion and so choose their hosts based off of their own ideals of strength, beauty, and wisdom, which left most of the hunters, trackers, and fighters supplementing their skills with an ancient and fierce wisdom and power.
Through the generations, exposure to the fierae aura and power changed them fundamentally, their physical forms reflecting that of their companions with elongated canines, love of fresh (but cooked) meat, heightened senses of smell, taste, and hearing, the latter most aided by the severe elongation and widening of their ears to something resembling the wolves as well. Their eyes changed last of all, narrowing, lifting, night vision enhancing, and completing the image of wolven kinship.
Their social structure reflected that of the wolves, with an alpha male and female at the head of the entire society, though they based nearly all their final decisions on opinions expressed and discussions had in a council composed of betas (voted upon by the rest of the local Glaiden, who had by this time spread far and wide into the land of trees), and one representative of the Soulorian, the group of maeyenin who had access to the magical forces of the universe. The Soulain provided wasn't always the same, but the views more or less remained fairly fixed, and often bore more weight than the rest of the council put together, such was the regard given to any Soulain who only stood below the alphas because of their respect to the alphas and their position.
Of all the gods, of which there are 14, the Glaiden worship Driana, goddess of earth with domain over much of nature and animals, though rather than conducting elaborate ceremonies of worship and praise, they consider it prayer by respecting nature, taking care of the land, and protecting all within their personal domain, doing what they can to preserve what it is the goddess had given.
While they do not have a warrior society, violence is a part of life, fights occur, scuffles and the like, and are usually over quickly with a decided victor who rises up a little in the regard of the collective, though how much or how little frequently depends on why the fight began and who started it. For all their ties to the wolves, they've maintained their own identity as a civilised group and seamlessly merged the two into one.